Winter Slumber
by fitzefitcher
Summary: Marta gets sick. Greed takes care of her.[GreedMarta, because we need more of these] [Fluffy] [Please review][Completed!]
1. Poor Marta

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own Full Metal Alchemist._

Chapter 1: Poor Marta…

In Marta's mind, the world had just ended. To explain why, I have to elaborate on the circumstances. In the Devil's nest, there are only four rooms; the bar/kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, and an empty room free of any furniture whatsoever. In the bedroom, there are just two beds. One, the double bed, was Greed's, which he would _never_ share with _anyone_, and the other one was everyone else's; they just took turns to use it. So they use the age-old method of pulling names out of a hat.

Normally, Marta would avoid this by putting in someone else's name. Hell, there was no way she'd be alone with Greed for more than an hour; she made sure of that. But someone went out of their way and put her name into that God-forsaken hat. Somebody must really hate her…or they didn't know any better. I mean, there was that newcomer who treated Marta like an older sister… She probably heard that it was better to get the bed rather than sleep on the floor or one of the couches in the bar.

_It's not her fault, but still,_ Marta thought bitterly. _What, does she think I'm better than her or something? Sure, I've got seniority, but I'm not superior or anything. _She groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long week. (Note: when your name is drawn from the hat, you use the bed for a week, whether you want to or not.)

Anyway, while Marta readies for bed, I'll explain her evaporated tolerance of Greed. Over the past few weeks, his changed attitude towards her became more and more pronounced. At first, she didn't think much of it; he was only being slightly nicer to her than he was to everyone else. But pretty soon it was so obvious that it started to scare her. And then came Christmas, of which they a sort of 'Secret Santa,' only you got to choose who you gave your present to. Marta knew that Greed was going to get her something, and it scared her beyond all rational belief of what it could be. Lord knows what was going through her head at the time.

Then the dreaded day came; the first few hours were okay, as she got a nice, fluffy blanket from Dorochet and the newcomer, but then she received a gift from Greed. She became so nervous that she started to shake.

"Marta, what's wrong?" inquired Greed cheerfully.

"Nothing, I'm just cold," she bluffed. "Thank you for the gift."

"No problem," he said as he walked away. Still shaking, she began to unwrap the box. The instant she opened it and saw what it was, she slammed the box shut. As Dorochet was right next to her as she opened it, he saw it, too. He'd never let her live this down. Ever.

Inside the box was a lacey, red bra and matching panties.

To put it shortly, Marta was scarred for life.

And now, three weeks before Valentine's Day, she was sure Greed would do something to her. She wasn't sure what he'd do, but she knew he'd plan _something_. But she'd think about that later; now was the time to rest. She started to unroll her sleeping bag, but sighed as she remembered she had to sleep in the bed tonight. She walked to the bedroom and sat on the foot of her bed. _Well, I might as well get this over with,_ she thought as she pulled down the sheets. Then she slipped under the covers and went to sleep.

Boy was she in for a rude awakening tomorrow.

The next morning, Marta awoke to find arms wrapped around her protectively. Suddenly her face flushed and her mind was in chaos. _What the hell is going on!_ She thought. Close to hyperventilation, she turned to see who it was, even though she had a pretty good idea of whose arms they were. Twas the greedy one himself. She tried to get up, but had a hard time since Greed was clinging to her and wouldn't let go. She looked around the room; good, she was still in her own bed… But Greed snuck into bed with her! _But he's got his own bed! Why does he have to sneak into mine!_ Marta thought, hyperventilating.

Greed seemed to wake up a little bit from being next to Marta's gasping breath.

"Hush, I'm still sleeping…" he mumbled groggily, not noticing her distress.

"Well, I'm not, so let me go!" she said indignantly.

"But I don't want to…" he whined. It was like talking to a frickin' seven-year-old.

"What the hell's wrong with your own bed! Why'd ya have to sneak into mine!" He paused but a moment before he said "Because I didn't want to wake you up." He just pulled her back down and held on tighter. Marta became horribly aware of just how loose and revealing her tank top was (actually, it was okay, but her mind isn't quite right today, if you haven't noticed) and immediately tried to cover herself. Greed took this as her being cold and pulled her ever so closer to himself. Marta squeaked and thought _if this continues, I'll go insane, if I haven't already!_

Her thoughts were interrupted as Greed said, "You should wear something heavier if you're cold; after all, snakes are sensitive to the cold."


	2. Bonding or Something like that

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own Full Metal Alchemist. Arakawa Hiromu-san does._

_I don't own "Almost." Sarah Harmer does._

Chapter 2: Bonding…Or something like that…

Later on that day, almost everyone had left, leaving Greed and Marta at the Devil's Nest. Marta tried to avoid him as much as possible, which is pretty difficult considering the fact that there are only four rooms. She was tired of just running away out of paranoia, so she decided to shower to calm her nerves. Since there was no one there (besides her and Greed), she used the warm water instead of her usual cold-water shower. (The bathroom looks a lot like a public bathroom, except cleaner and with shower stalls and curtains.)

She carried her clothes and a towel into the bathroom and placed the clothes on the counter where the sinks were. Then she locked the door and began to undress, folding her sleepwear and putting them next to her normal clothes. Shivering, she went into the shower stall and closed the curtain, carefully hanging her towel on the rack conveniently placed next to the curtain. She turned on the shower, and steam filled the room, fogging up any of the mirrors that were in there. Now she could think without being disturbed.

_What was Greed thinking this morning? Why would he want to do that?_ She set that aside; now wasn't the time for it. She continued to wash herself and began to sing very softly.

"I almost dialed your number when I thought the coast was clear cause it's looked up for so long at me, and said 'Call me please…'" She stopped; she thought she heard someone walk in, but she had locked the door, so that couldn't happen, right? She brushed that aside and continued her song.

"But the place was closing, the counter girl turned the sign, the cooks were getting their coats and I got mine, and said 'Goodnight' to the sea of empty seats…" She was clean. It was time to get out. She didn't get to finish her song, but oh well. After grabbing the towel and drying off, she wrapped it around her abdomen and stepped out of the stall. She went to get her clothes…

…which weren't there?

_Blink, blink._

Marta quickly looked to the door, and saw it was locked. She calmed a little bit after seeing that. But where were her clothes!

She looked again where they should be, and there, right next to the sink, was the bane of her existence: the lacey, red bra and panties. Clearly, someone was out to get her, and they wouldn't stop until she was mortified to the point where she'd want to crawl under a rock and die. _I bet it was Dorochet, the bastard… _she thought, forgetting that she and Greed were the only ones there. She put on the evil lingerie and wrapped the towel around herself again. She saw that there was a note under it that read "You're beautiful, hon."

Any nonexistent forgiveness that she had for the poor dog chimaera was thrown out the window. He'd probably listened to her singing too, the jerk! But then she realized that Dorochet wasn't home. He was out, doing…whatever the hell he was doing. The only other person there was…

Marta's eyes widened and she turned as red as the lingerie.

"You know, Marta, you have a beautiful voice," called Greed through the door.

_Shit!_

Marta stayed in the bathroom for another half hour, still in shock. She was woken from her trance when she heard Greed say, "If you don't come out in five seconds, I'm going to come in and get you."

"Ah! Wait!" she all-but-screamed, scrambling to get off the cold tile.

"Five."

She looked around frantically. Where was that damn towel!

"Four."

There! She ran to get her salvation.

"Three."

She hastily wrapped it around abdomen, and then ran to the door.

"Two."

Right before she got to the door, she slipped on a puddle on the floor. Smooth, Marta. Real smooth.

"One."

And as soon as she began to fall, Greed ran in and caught her, letting the towel slip off her body.

_Damn. That was close,_ thought Greed. He let his eyes rest on Marta, scanning her body up and down. Marta, meanwhile, was trying to catch her breath from the shock of nearly cracking her skull, not noticing that he was staring at her.

Greed had to restrain himself from forcing himself on her right then and there. Twas quite difficult for him.

"Hey, Greed?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you get in when the door was locked?'

"…shit."

By the time everyone went to bed, Marta had forgiven Greed a little bit- only a little! She was, once again, in his debt. First, he let follow him, and now he's saved her life.

_But just because I'm in his debt doesn't mean he can do crap like that…_ she thought. _Although… he did look really cool when he saved me._ She blushed at this thought. _No! Think like that, and you'll end up being his wife and having his children!_

She paused for a minute, analyzing what just went through her head. She put the lingerie to shame with the shade of red that appeared on her face. _Where the hell did that come from!_ She screamed in her head. _Eww…that's friggin' disgusting! I can't believe I thought of doing _that_ with Greed! He'd probably steal his children's belongings anyway, the jerk…Wait…DAMMIT, NOT AGAIN! Remember- stick to the plan!_

Marta's "plan" was a desperate attempt to stop Greed from "bothering" her whilst she slept, which meant she pretended to sleep while she waited for everyone else to pass out, and then she'd sneak back to where she usually slept: the empty room. Genius! Pure genius! She changed back into her black tank top and grey sweatpants to sleep. Then she climbed into bed and waited.

About an hour later, she heard everyone saying their goodnights and going to bed. _Good,_ she thought. _Any longer and I would've fallen asleep. _She waited a little bit longer, and soon she heard no noise. But Greed still didn't come into his room. Just as she was about to get up and check where he was, she froze, having heard the doorknob turn. Her heart pounded in her ears; now was the moment of truth. If this didn't works, then nothing would!

Greed crept into the room as quietly as he could; he didn't want to wake _his_ Marta. Then he saw she was pretending to be asleep; actually, it was painfully obvious to him. But he made no attempt to tell her that. Instead, he simply tucked her in, as a loving father would have done. Then, he got under the covers of his own bed and closed his eyes.

Marta was relieved when she heard the rustling of sheets that weren't hers. She looked around the room; the door was still open, which would make it easier to escape. She got up as quietly as she could and carefully tiptoed to the empty room. Her heart froze when she accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard, but no one woke up, thank God. Relieved, she went inside and closed the door behind her. No one could get her now. With this in mind, she calmly unrolled her sleeping bag and went to sleep.

It's too bad that her plan wouldn't work.


	3. Yet another Rude Awakening

"Winter Slumber"

_Seriously, I don't own FMA._

Chapter 3: Yet another Rude Awakening

For the second time this week, Marta awoke to find herself in the arms of a certain protective sin. But today was different, as she didn't realize where she was right away. Let's watch, shall we? (Why yes, I do have a demented sense of humor! Thank you for noticing!)

_Cold_, Marta thought, shivering. She felt around for a minute until she found a source of heat. She grinned crazily and inched towards the warmth. It seemed to notice her presence, however, and wrapped itself around her, filling her with a nice, soft feeling inside. She loved that feeling. It made her feel safe and protected, and never would she would she leave it, even if she had to…

Marta's eyes snapped open. Where was she? She was in her sleeping bag… which means the plan worked! Yes! Now, she…

…realized she was being smothered by Greed. _Again_.

_How did he get in the effing sleeping bag? I mean, it can barely fit me, let alone me and him…_

**Blink, blink.**

_Me and him._

_Him and me._

_Us._

_Together._

_In the same sleeping bad._

_NO ONE ELSE._

And for the second time that week, she put her Christmas present to shame, **which she just happened to be wearing under her tank top and sweat pants.**

**Blink, blink.**

"SHIT!" came Marta's spastic screech as she scrambled to get out of the tiny sleeping compartment. Well, she tried anyway, but Greed clung to her. Not even a crowbar could pry him off her now. And Marta's squirming didn't help much; it just caused Greed to turn so that he was facing the ceiling. That meant Marta was _on top_ of him.

_Why, God, why!_ thought Marta as she got an arm free from Greed's death-grip. Suddenly the doorknob began to rattle.

"Marta! Marta, are you alright!" She froze. Was that… Dorochet?

"I'm fine! I just dropped something!" said Marta, laughing nervously.

"Do you need help?" He started to open the door…

"No, that's okay!" She stretched her free arm to keep the door shut. Right now, she was very glad she was a snake chimaera; rubber-like limbs were a good advantage at the moment. If Dorochet _ever_ saw what was happening, she'd be hearing about it for the rest of her life. Her mind racing, she tried to think of a way out of Greed's deadly grasp.

_Groan…_ She was going to regret this later. Slowly and carefully, she eased her legs into his grip. Then she swiftly pulled them out her sweatpants, leaving Greed with the pants and her with her lacey red panties. Knowing that Dorochet would open the door anyway, she walked to it, care fully hiding her bare legs, and gently opened it. Dorochet was still there.

"What are you still standing there, Dorochet? I'm fine!"

"No, you're not! Your face looks flushed! You sure you're not sick or anything?" Marta sighed inwardly. He's really stubborn, isn't he?

"Look, I'm fine, okay? Nothing's wrong with me."

"Can I at _least_ check your temperature to be sure?"

"Fine…" Dorochet reached his hand out to her, ever so slowly, until he was nearly touching her forehead. **He never did reach it.** From behind Marta, a certain someone's ouroburos-marked hand shot out and nearly crushed Dorochet's. Take a wild guess at who it was.

In his entire life, Greed had never felt a more powerful emotion than the one flowing through his veins. It was as if his very blood was on fire. (Aww…Greed's jealous.) He had to restrain himself from brutally killing Dorochet right on the spot, and his mind was screaming horrible obscenities. He forced himself to say "What are you doing?" instead of "GET AWAY FROM HER, ASSHOLE!"

"Ah! Greed, w-what were you doing back there?" Dorochet stuttered. (Hey, you'd stutter too if your hand was being crushed.)

"That's not the point? What were you doing?"

"I was about to check her temperature, but--!"

"You weren't doing it properly," interrupted Greed. "This is how you should do it." He forcefully spun Marta around so that she was facing him.

_What the hell does he think he's doing!_ thought Dorochet. _He's going to get himself KILLED! _Marta did indeed look quite murderous. In fact, she was instinctively reaching for her knives right this minute. Too bad they weren't there.

If Greed wasn't Greed, he'd be dead meat.

Marta didn't even bother to escape; she was doomed anyway. Besides, he was just checking her temperature, right? He put his hand on his forehead. _Okay, he's just seeing what the norm is…Nothing unusual,_ thinks a relieved Marta.

Unfortunately, her relief evaporated almost instantly when he placed his lips on her forehead. Dorochet just stood there, gawking in horror. Marta felt as if every muscle in her body had been paralyzed. No one moved for a few seconds, until Roa came to see why everyone was standing around. As his face turned stoic, you could tell that he was trying – and failing- to hide his amazement.

"Oh, for the love of… Dorochet, you idiot! Stop staring!" scorned Roa as he dragged him away from the door. As the door was closed, Marta could hear Dorochet whining about missing a freakin' miracle. (Sorry, Domenic! I had to steal that! It was too perfect _not_ to use!) _Miracle, my ass,_ she thought as Greed removed himself from her head.

"What was that for, Greed!" Marta almost screamed.

"I was checking your temperature," said Greed, smirking. "And speaking of which, you have a _slight_ fever."

"So what! That doesn't mean I'm sick or anything!"

"You're right. It doesn't. But…" He leaned closer until he was half an inch from her face. "…that doesn't mean you should take it lightly." He started to walk to the door. "Oh. By the way…"

"What?" she spat venomously.

"Nice underwear."

Flushing, Marta's mind screamed, _Dammit, I knew I was going to regret that! _Greed left and pretended nothing happened.

"GREED, YOU SUCK!" came Marta's anger-filled screech.

"I know," he said, smiling.


	4. Oh Joy Injuries

"Winter Slumber"

_This one doesn't own FMA. So don't sue. Seriously._

Chapter 4: Oh, joy. Injuries.

Morning went fairly quickly for Marta; it wasn't until about noon that she had the chance to sit down. By then, almost everyone was gone. This time, it was her, Greed, Dorochet, and Roa. (Lord knows where the hell KIMBERLEY was…the bastard.) So anyway, she had just sat down for breakfast (yeah, she's eating it at NOON. Get over it.), when Dorochet and Roa sat down with her. She hadn't seen them at all since early that morning, so it surprised her a bit.

"Mornin'," said Dorochet cheerfully.

"It's a bit late for that, don't ya think?" Roa questioned which was ignored.

…Cricket, cricket…

"…He's right, you know…" Marta said quietly.

"What'd you say?" asked Dorochet.

"I SAID HE WAS RIGHT, DAMMIT!"

"Geez, stop freaking out…" Roa scorned.

"Hey Marta…" - Dorochet

"Yeah?"

"Since it's just us, could you cook something up?"

She stared at the dog chimaera in disbelief. He was kidding, right?

"No, seriously! Please make something for us!"

"Like what?"

"Pancakes!" he exclaimed gleefully.

"What, waffles aren't good enough?" said Roa mournfully.

"I can cook both." She said simply.

"Really!" they almost-yelled in creepily perfect harmony.

"Yes…" she said, trailing off.

"Yay!" Dorochet squealed happily.

"Victory!" said Roa, making a pose Armstrong would've been proud of. In fact, if you looked closely, you could see tiny, blue sparkles around the both of them. Freaks.

About an hour later, Marta had just started cooking the pancakes. The waffles had yet to be cooked, as someone had made off with the batter. (Dorochet stole it out of spite.) She'd have to start over, but that'd be later. As she flipped the pancakes, she wondered why she hadn't avoided this; her food was like faerie food- it was strangely addictive. She didn't want to be cooking all day for the rest of her life.

"Marta, I'm huuuuuuuuuungry…" whined Dorochet.

"Well, maybe if _someone_ hadn't viciously destroyed my waffle batter, you'd have something to eat right now," rebuked Marta. He then let out a dog-like whimper. "That isn't going to work, Dorochet. You'll just have to wait."

A little while later, they had almost finished eating the pancakes, when Dorochet said, "Hey, where's Greed? I haven't seen him since this morning." Marta blushed at this question and tried not to listen. Didn't work, of course.

"Speaking of which, what happened between you guys? I've never seen him act like that. Ever." Marta blushed even redder.

"Ah… I don't really know why he did that…" she said truthfully. She seriously had no idea what the hell Greed was up to.

"Really? I thought it was pretty obvious…" said a surprised Roa.

"What? What was?"

"Aww, it's so cute that you're oblivious…" said Dorochet teasingly. "Even if it is painfully obvious!"

"What? What? Tell me!"

"He loves you," stated Roa, smiling.

Marta sat there, dumbstruck. _Greed…loves me?_

"**ERROR! ERROR! DOES NOT COMPUTE! SYSTEM OVERLOAD!" **basically described her current state of mind. Let's take a peek into her thoughts, shall we?

_Greed loves me? Of all people he could've picked, he chose me? What the hell!_ said the part of her that was angry.

_Actually, that makes sense, in a cruel, demented way. Why else would he be doing what he's doing?_ said the only part that was sane at the moment.

_Because he's a jerk…_

_Well, there is _that_…_

_See! For all I know, he could be trying to play some mean, sickening joke on me!_

_Or Roa could be telling the truth. _said the small voice in the back of her head. _Besides, shouldn't you be happy about this? _It sounded hopeful as it that, but her emotions were too confusing for mind to analyze that thought at the time.

She was silent for a few minutes, during which an impatient Dorochet was dragged away by Roa. (He wanted to see what happened when Marta realized what they just said, so he was poking her in hopes the process would quicken. Freak.)

As it turned out, Greed just slept in. Not surprising, really, if you think about it… Well anyway, he woke up, got dressed, and went to where Marta was sitting. She remained quiet and unresponsive, still trying to figure out what the hell just happened. He looked at the remnants of the pancakes. Marta's pancakes were almost completely untouched, so he just grabbed one and ate it. Yum. Now, it was good- scratch that, great- but even that didn't satisfy his avarice. Then he bent over as if he was bowing, which wasn't his true intention. He grew closer and closer to her, until finally, he planted his lips on hers.

That woke her up pretty quick.

The impact of the simple kiss caused her to fall out of her chair, managing to splutter out, "Whuh-what was that! W-Why the hell--!"

"I was comparing tastes," he replied, smirking haughtily. "Your pancakes didn't have a chance. Nice try, though."

"Why, you-" She was cut off by a cough that suddenly _needed_ to fly out of her mouth. She sat up instantly, trying to relieve the coughing that plagued her. Greed frowned slightly; didn't he tell her to be careful? He was relieved when she finally stopped.

"What, did you choke on your own spit or something?" he asked as he helped her up. Marta gave him a long, hard stare.

"Ya know Greed, sometimes I wonder why I decided to come here. I mean, if I knew I had to put up with this, I might've tried to make it on my own." Marta said coldly. Then she walked swiftly to the empty room and closed the door. She was going to fell bad about this later, but he needed to _back off_. She didn't love him in _that way_.

…besides, she could always apologize later, right?

About half an hour later, Marta decided to check if anyone came back yet. Peeking outside, she saw that a lot of the Devil's Nest's residents had returned. _Good, now there's less of a chance for Greed to try something._ Then she felt that familiar itch in her throat, and began to cough violently. _Damn, when did it become so hard to **breathe**?_ she thought as the coughing subsided. She decided to take a shower, as she didn't have time to this morning and the heat would make her throat feel better.

Grabbing her toiletries, she walked to the bathroom, undressed, and showered, being careful not to sing, lest she be embarrassed yet again. She dried off and wrapped her towel around herself. Looking to the sink, she saw her clothes were there. She breathed a sigh of relief, but that was cut off by another coughing fit, this one worse than the other ones. _Dammit, that shower was supposed to help, not make it worse!_ she thought, shaking violently from both the coughing and the cold. She staggered to the sinks, trying to hold herself steady. But the bathroom tile betrayed her yet again, making her slip and hitting the back of her head on the counter's edge.

Biting her tongue to hold off the strings of curses, she tried to stand again. Her attempt failed miserably, however, as she slipped again halfway up, hitting her head again on the counter, then again as she hit the floor. To put it simply, the amount of pain going through head knocked her out. Ouch.

When she awoke, she found that she was dressed and in bead. But not just any bed- Greed's bed. She blushed and looked around wildly. No one else was there, thank God. Then she realized there was a throbbing pain in the back of her head.

"Ouch…" she muttered to no one in particular. But then a terrifying thought struck: **Who had dressed her?** She paled, straining to remember who was there when she blacked out. _…I think there were women here…_ she thought. _…I heard them while I was in the shower._ She calmed slightly, realizing the chance of being seen naked by Greed- or any man for that matter- had slimmed considerably. Surely, they'd tried to protect what was left of her dignity? She closed her eyes and thought about that. Yes, they would understand… Now, on to more pressing matters, such as "Why the hell am I in Greed's bed?" As I've said before, the world would end before Greed would share his bed with ANYONE. EVER.

But… he had been acting strange lately… Perhaps he consented if asked, or even worse, _volunteered_ to lend his mattress to the ailing Marta. Fuming, she ripped off the covers and walked to the door. He wasn't going to escape this time.

Ya know, it's a bit unfortunate that the door was locked from the other side.

Rattling the doorknob, she yelled "Hey! Open the frickin' door!"

"No can do, Marta," came the answer. Twas Greed, of course.

"What? Why the hell not?" Marta's screech was answered with Greed ripping the door open and pulling her toward himself, wrapping her in a protective embrace.

"Because," he said quietly. "I don't want you to get hurt again." He released her, but he did it reluctantly, pouting like a spoiled child as he did so. Surprisingly, Marta didn't blush as badly as she thought she did.

Clapping his hands together, Greed then said "Well, then… Now that _that's _over with…" He proceeded to throw her onto his shoulder, walk over to the mattress and "place" her (more like threw) onto it. Then he tucked her in, nearly suffocating her with the covers. Marta opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, Greed said "Stay there. You have to rest." And then he left, closing the door behind him.

Marta sighed in frustration; she knew she wasn't going to win. He was too stubborn. And with that in mind, she drifted off to sleep.


	5. Cough Hack Cough

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own FMA._

Chapter 5: Cough, Hack, Cough

When Marta, she was greeted by a grinning Dorochet. _Great. Just great. What did he do now? _Then she realized she was still in Greed's bed. _Oh yeah… _

"Why are you here, Dorochet?" she asked, fearing what he would say next.

"To make sure you're okay. Greed's orders. Roa will be here with dinner any minute now." he replied, still smiling.

"Where is he?"

"Greed? Don't know. He just left without saying anything."

"What happened when I blacked out?"

He made a strange noise that sounded distinctly like the squeak of a mouse. A red tint appeared on his face- _He's blushing! _

"Dorochet…?" He looked at her as if to say something, but no words came out of his mouth.

_Knock, knock_

Dorochet sprinted out the door. Damn, he's fast. Roa came through the door with a tray of food, watching him run like hell. Shaking his head, he set the tray down in front of Marta and sat in the chair that Dorochet previously occupied.

"You asked him what happened, didn't you?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah… What's with him?"

"Do you really want to know what happened?"

"Yes…."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Just lemme get one of the women to explain it." He left, then came back a minute or two later with one of the women that took up residence at the tavern. (It was the newcomer, whose name is Eliza.)

"Alright, what happened?" asked Marta, getting impatient.

"Well, right after you collapsed, Greed…eh…freaked out. He ran to the door to get you, but me and a few others got there first. Don't worry; we didn't let him in right away."

"That's good…I guess…How much of me did he see?"

"We got you into your underwear before he ripped the door open. Dressing someone without looking is really, really hard."

"Underwear meaning both bra and panties?"

"Yes, though he barged in the second you were covered. Then he just picked you up and carried you to the bedroom. Dorochet ran in with the rest of your clothes a minute later, but Roa came and dragged him out, so I guess Greed was the one who finished dressing you."

_Oh, that's great. Just GREAT._

"So, did anything else happen?"

"He didn't let anyone see you; he just sat outside the door, like he was guarding an awesome treasure or something. It was kinda creepy, actually…" she trailed off and gazed into space for a few minutes. By then, Marta had finished eating, so Eliza took the tray and bid her goodnight, leaving her alone in the bedroom.

_Didn't know he'd get so protective…_ Marta thought wearily. _I guess Roa was telling the truth, then…_ She pondered this for a few minutes, until guess who opened the door.

"Feeling better?" Greed asked, masking his emotion with a cheerful façade. For some reason, he was angry with himself. I mean, it wasn't his fault that Marta was knocked out, but he felt like it was. Why didn't he run in the second he heard her pain? _Because she'd be mad at me for respecting her privacy… not that_ that_ matters anymore…_

"Actually, I'm feeling much better now," she lied. "Thanks for asking, though." She felt bad enough about worrying everyone; she didn't want to make it worse. "And…I'm sorry for what I said earlier; I didn't mean it."

"Hmm?"

"I said I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean what I said earlier, and I didn't mean to worry everyone…" she repeated. What, was she speaking French? He smiled. It wasn't his usual smirk, either. Oh, no. It was an actual smile, something that was pretty rare to get from Greed.

"I forgive you. Just get better, alright?"

"Alright."

"Good. Now get some rest." He closed the door as quietly as he could, seeing that Marta was struggling to stay awake as it was. Yawning, she laid her head on the pillow and passed out almost instantly.

KAFF! KAFF! KAFF, KAFF!

Gag. Choke. Disease.

Once again, Marta was rudely awakened, though this time it wasn't because of Greed, who was asleep next to her.

KAFF! KAFF!

She sat up to ease the pain of the coughing fit, giving herself a bit more room to breathe. After a minute or two, Greed woke up as well, giving Marta a sleepy glare. If she wasn't busy coughing, then she'd probably see it. But she didn't. (Although she did acknowledge his presence.) Finally, the coughing stopped.

"Why did you lie and say you were better?" he said bluntly.

"Because I didn't want to worry you…." she whispered softly. He stared at her for a second, then forced her down, pulling her towards himself, receiving a startled squeak from her.

"You'll sleep better if you're warm."

"…you're just taking advantage of me while I'm sick!"

"Yep. Get used to it." She sighed, but gave in, making herself as comfortable as possibly in the protection of his arms.

Wasn't too hard for her.

Yay! Review responses!

Oh yeah, before I do anything, let me say this: Don't mind Kyoko-chan over there; she's just a jealous fangirl. (Kyoko: Hiss!)

Anyway, thank you for such wonderful reviews! Especially you, Psychodog! You better update "Hell's my Playground," or else:D

And to everyone else- Thank you so much! I'll be making a kiriban if it'll reach 500 hits! So far, it's up to 395! The kiriban will be posted on devianart, and I'll put the link in the chapter that reaches it.

Thank you, everyone! I feel so loved!


	6. Memories of Blood

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own FMA. Arakawa Hiromu does._

_I don't own the song "Across the Universe." The Beatles do._

Chapter 6: Memories of Blood

Over the next few days, a routine was developed. Marta would wake up, wake up Greed, then have breakfast. After everyone was gone, she'd get up and shower while she still had the freedom to do so (Greed made her stay bedridden while he was there). Next she did small cores that no one had done yet, such as washing the dishes and putting them away to their correct place. Then, if she still had time before everyone started coming back, she'd sneak a few of her books into the bedroom. Hey, it's boring if you're just sitting in bed all day with nothing to do.

But all good things must come to an end. It was the end of the week, and Marta's turn in the bedroom was over. She felt a strange twinge of pain when she remembered this. She brushed it off; it probably came from the sickness. After the drawing of the hat, Marta gathered up her things in the bedroom and brought them back to her usual sleeping spot. Then she bid everyone goodnight and crawled into her sleeping bag.

Somehow, it didn't feel right without a certain someone's strong arms and warm breath.

Deep within the confines of her mind, while she was asleep, horrid images began to form: ones of war, ones of Ishbal, and ones of Lab Five. They replayed themselves over and over, until they were burned into her mind. Again and again, the memories played themselves in morbid fashion, the bloodiest and most painful in order from least to greatest. Eventually, it was too much, and her brain screamed at her to wake up. Which she did.

She lay there, terrified. Her eyes were open, but darkness covered all, making it a bit pointless. Good lord, she hadn't had a dream this mentally horrifying for her since she was a little kid. Back then, she could just go to her parents' room to sleep. But now… What should she do? Going back to sleep right would risk having the same dream, and staying awake was _not_ going to help her get better. And there was _no way_ in HELL that she was going to the bedroom! Waking Greed in the middle of the night would be the same as asking to be killed; he did _not_ like being disturbed. Ever.

She decided to go with the second choice- staying awake, therefore prolonging her cruel nightmare that she _knew_ was coming. But sleep won in the end; she fell asleep a few hours after she woke up, though the nightmare didn't come back, thank God. Instead, she was granted a somewhat peaceful rest. ("Somewhat" because she was still a bit shaken.)

When she woke up at a more reasonable time, it was around eleven o' clock. As Greed's bar wasn't _really_ a bar (at least not at this time of day), most of the residents had left to their jobs elsewhere. A half-asleep Marta finally stumbled out to the table where breakfast was being eaten, not caring that she was tired, or that Greed was right there.

"You okay?" asked Dorochet. Marta gave him a look that said, "Do I _look_ like I'm okay?"

"Rough night?" he said sympathetically.

"You have no idea," she said, slumping onto the table.

"So, what happened, then?" asked Roa casually, sitting down in a chair beside them.

"I had a nightmare last night," she said. "One that I'd rather not talk about."

"And it was bad enough that you didn't get any sleep?" Dorochet asked, the slightest hint of concern in his voice.

"Apparently…" she said, trying to restrain a yawn. Didn't work too well. "I think I'll go back to sleep once I'm done eating breakfast…"

"Try to stay awake until then, okay?" - Dorochet

"That's what I'm doing now," she said, sitting up in her chair. Twenty minutes passed. With her eyelids drooping, Marta called out "Is breakfast ready yet? I won't be able to stay awake much longer…"

"If you can't wait, then go have some cereal or something, 'cause we aren't don't yet." yelled Dorochet from the kitchen. She sighed and got up to get a bowl from the cabinet. As she was opening it and reaching it, you-know-who's hand grabbed hers and said, "You shouldn't be moving around if you aren't feeling well." _Crap, I thought he left already…_ She didn't even bother turning around. She knew who it was.

"I still have to eat, you know."

"Then I'll have food brought to you." It was then that they heard Dorochet's frustrated screech as he was dragged away, literally, by Roa. (He was spying on them. Again.)

"Remind me to give him a raise," said Greed jokingly,

"What! You don't even pay him!"

"Then remind me to start paying him whenever he does that!" he said, laughing.

"Well, you better have enough money, 'cause he does that a _lot_!" she replied, smiling in spite of herself.

Perhaps Greed wasn't so bad after all.

The rest of the day went by fairly quick; now that Marta was allowed to move around again, she found tons of stuff to do and kept herself busy until the very end of the day. Of course, she forgot about the nightmare. But then it rushing back the second she slipped into her sleeping bag.

_Dammit, not again…_ she thought frustratedly. She was going to beat this thing no matter what, even if she had to force herself to go to sleep. Which she did.

But the nightmare came back.

And she didn't wake up.

That night, Greed was the one who was rudely awakened. He had been sleeping peacefully, when he heard, in his opinion, the most disturbing sound in the world: tears on flesh. He leapt from the bed and ran to the empty room, ripping open the door.

There was Marta, asleep on the floor, her body shaking and tears running down her cheeks. She kept mumbling something he couldn't hear. He sat next to her, and checked her temperature the way he usually did.

Her fever had risen.

Panicking, he lifted her up, sleeping bag and all, and went back to the bedroom. He carefully put her into a position that he could hold her with one arm, then used his other arm to pull back the sheets. Then he placed her and the sleeping bag onto the bed and put the covers back in place, making sure she had room to breathe.

Of course, Marta couldn't stay asleep for long after being moved a lot. She wasn't surprised to find that she was drenched in sweat and tears, but she didn't expect her sleeping bag to be in Greed's bed. Her eyes fluttered open, not quite awake.

"…Greed…?" she mumbled, finding herself under his gaze. She heard him breathe a sigh of relief as she turned to face him.

"You had a nightmare." It wasn't a question; he stated it as a fact.

"Yeah, and?"

"You should've told me yesterday about the first one."

"…And you heard about that _where_?"

"Dorochet and Roa told me." Marta clenched her fist in anger. _Traitors…_ But then again, if she had told him herself, then this situation might've been avoided.

"You can leave at any time."

"What?"

"Well, you're not really supposed to be in here, so…"

Oh yeah, she wasn't… The painful twinge from before came back for a second. But, wait… she could ask him if she could stay here, right?

"Um…. Actually…"

"Hmm?"

"Can I…. um… sleep with… you… tonight?" _That sounded so WRONG!_ she screamed in her mind. _Why couldn't you think of anything ELSE! _He gave her a strange look. "I mean, I don't want to be alone if I have a nightmare again…" she clarified, covering her face with her hands to obscure the blush that creeped onto her face.

He smiled at her blushing face and said, "Alright. Just put the sleeping bag back in your room." Her heart lifted as she got out of the sleeping and threw it unceremoniously onto the floor of her room. Then she walked back into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, face first onto the pillow. It shook a little, which made Greed say "Hey, watch it! Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Sorry…" she said as she crawled underneath the covers. They laid there, awake, for another hour, until Greed said, "Ya know, you're being awake keeps me awake."

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Why don't you sing or something?"

"What're you, crazy! That'll wake the person who's in here!" (Yes, despite all the noise, that lucky kid somehow managed to sleep through it.)

"Not if you sing quietly…" She made a strangled sound.

"Then how are you gonna hear it?" He pulled her closer to himself, leaving about an inch of space in between them. "Greed, I hate you so much right now…"

"Sing, Marta, sing!" he whispered, trying not to laugh.

"Fine…" she said irritatedly. "Just lemme think of one…" A few minutes passed, until she finally started to sing.

"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, they make their way across the universe…" She paused and took a breath of air. "Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind, possessing and caressing me…"

_**Jai guru de va…**_

_**Ohm…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Images of broken light**_

_**Which dance before me**_

_**Like a million eyes**_

_**They call me on and on**_

_**Across the universe**_

**_Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box_**

_**They tumble blindly as they make their way**_

_**Across the universe**_

_**Jai guru de va…**_

_**Ohm…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Sounds of laughter**_

_**Shades of earth**_

_**Are ringing through my open views**_

_**Inciting and inviting me**_

_**Limitless, undying love**_

_**Which shines around me**_

_**Like a million suns**_

_**It calls me on and on**_

_**Across the universe**_

_**Jai guru de va…**_

_**Ohm…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Nothing's gonna change my world…**_

_**Jai guru de va…**_

_**Jai guru de va…**_

_**Jai guru de va…**_

Hello, loyal fans! Didja miss me? Sorry it took longer to update than it usually does; I've been running out of ideas. Hey, I've got the ending planned, it's just that I need more crap leading up to it. I think I've still got **two** left…and that's not _nearly_ enough…. Wait…

Scratch that, I've got three more ideas.

And they are:

1) Dorochet sees Marta sleeping in Greed's bed. With Greed.

2) Marta starts singing while the bar is open to earn extra money.

3) One of the other sins (Preferably Wrath, Lust, or Envy) comes to visit, and "interferes."

So yes, that's it for now. And the kiriban won't be coming anytime soon, though now I do have close to 700 hits. I'll probably put it off to the last chapter… BUT THERE _WILL_ BE ONE! I PROMISE! SERIOUSLY!

Until next time!


	7. Down with the Sickness!

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own Full Metal Alchemist._

Chapter 7: Down with the Sickness!

Dorochet was having a _wonderful_ week; his luck seemed to be improving with each passing day! First, Marta cooked his favorite dish, then he won the drawing for the bed! He happily bragged about it to Roa, who seriously didn't care, then stayed up until around eleven, and _then_ went to bed. He had a nice, peaceful sleep, except that he could've sworn that he heard singing (it was around one AM, according to his internal clock). But that didn't do anything except heighten his mood; he _loved_ that song.

And so, he woke up smiling, completely unaware of what happened to Marta. He wasn't that surprised as his eyes fell upon Greed, seeing him asleep with some girl. Of course, it came as a shock when he realized it was Marta.

He sat up; staring at the two in disturbed fascination, wondering what the hell was going on.

_Wait… Hold on a minute…_

_That better not be who I think it is…_

_OH MY GOD, IT'S MARTA._

_But she would never allow him to do that! Ever! It's frickin' suicide!_

"You can stop staring now, Dorochet."

_Shit._

"Eheh… how long have you been awake, Greed?"

"Mm… about an hour…"

"Then why didn't you go when you woke up?"

"This," he said, pointing at the still-sleeping Marta, who was hugging Greed? That's not something you see everyday…. At least, not voluntarily…

"Whoa… What happened?"

"Another nightmare. Got her in here before she could refuse."

"She wake you up or something?"

"It musta been really bad, then. The dream, I mean."

"Well, no shit, Dorochet. I mean, she was frickin' crying, for God's sake!"

"Did she say what she dreamt about?"

"Nope."

Dorochet froze when he heard her beginning to stir. Greed just didn't care; he kinda just sat there, not really focused on anything.

"Shouldn't you be doing something?" he said suddenly.

"Oh yeah…" he said, trailing off. "But first…" He got out of bed and walked out, leaving a slightly puzzled Greed alone with Marta, who was struggling to wake up.

He came back with Roa a minute later.

"I swear, Dorochet, this better be good or… holy shit."

"Ya know, if she wakes up and sees you, you might find yourselves in a bloody heap tomorrow, so I suggest that you leave."

"But it'd be worth it—AGH!"

No, it would not," stated Roa, once again dragging the screeching Dorochet away. The screaming continued on the other side of the door, and a chorus of "DOROCHET, SHUT UP!" was heard.

"Did I miss something?" said the finally somewhat awake Marta sleepily.

"Nah, nothing special. Just go back to sleep, Marta," Greed said quietly, leaving a kiss on her forehead. But she didn't notice as she was completely unaware of what the hell was going on, or she just wasn't bothered by it (it's probably the second one). "Oh, and by the way- your fever's gone. You aren't sick anymore."

"But I'm still tired. Now, shut up so I can sleep…" she mumbled through the pillow, pulling the covers over her shoulders. The flannel sheets' warmth spread all through her body, the material soft against her skin.

"You realize that you've still got your arm around me, right?"

"What're you complaining about? It's too early for me to care…"

"Aww… seeing you freak out is always fun…"

"You shut the hell up, Greed."

"It's true!"

Indeed it was- for the readers, anyway.

Especially since she had begun to return the same feeling that he had towards her.


	8. A Visit from Wrath

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own Full Metal Alchemist. Arakawa-san does._

Chapter 8: A Visit from Wrath

A few days passed, and Marta still didn't go back to the empty room. She just didn't want to; she suddenly became horribly aware of how cold and lonely it was in there. But Greed didn't care that she was there, and neither did any of the residents. Hey, to them, "Marta in Greed's bed extra sleeping bag no cold floor."

Besides, she found it nice to wake up in his arms; it made her feel protected. So one morning, she decided to ask Greed a question.

"Why do you let me stay here?" she asked, turning to face him, becoming horribly aware of just how close she was to his face.

"…because you want to…" he slurred, lazily opening one eye as he said it. "I wouldn't force you to stay if you didn't want to…." He kissed her on the cheek, then closed his eye again.

"Ya know, you should probably be getting up now anyway."

"Yeah, I should."

"…you're just going to lie there, aren't you?"

"Yup." She felt a smile tugging at her lips. He really was stubborn, wasn't he? _But that's what makes him Greed; he wouldn't be him if he wasn't like this._

"Hey, what're you so happy about?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Eventually, they did have to get up, but Greed held it out to the last possible moment. While she was getting dressed, she decided that she would go out today; she needed some fresh air. She had to wait for Greed to leave first, though; he'd probably want to come with her, and she wanted to be alone.

So about five minutes after he left, she grabbed her jacket and headed out, but first stopping to leave a note in case he came back before she did.

After wandering the city streets aimlessly for a bit, she went to the park and bought an ice cream. When she went to sit down on a bench, she heard a strange, sniffling noise. Turning around, she spotted a little, black-haired boy crying his eyes out under a tree. She strode over to him, and crouched down so that she was at his level.

"Hey kid, what's wrong? Where's your family?"

"Family….?"

"You know- your mom and dad, brothers and sisters!"

"I don't have any…" he sobbed out. "Mommy doesn't love me anymore… No one wants me… No one needs me…" He cried even harder.

"That can't be true! What's your name?"

"Wrath…"

"Well then, Wrath, I'm Marta, and I'll be your big sister!" she said, holding out her hand.

"R-really?"

"Of course! Here, I'll help you find your mom, okay?"

"Okay!" he said happily, taking her hand. They walked back to the place where Marta bought her ice cream cone.

"What flavor do you want?"

"I'm not hungry!"

…_grooowl…_

"That's not what your stomach says," she stated, smiling as he blushed.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, okay?" he said embarrassedly.

"You've _never_ had ice cream?"

"No…"

"Then we'll have to get one of each flavor and see which one you like best!"

"But what if I don't like them?"

"Then _I'll_ eat them."

Wrath still seemed unsure as she ordered the ice cream. She didn't let it bother her, though, and took her wallet out of her jacket pocket. She was only ordering two more flavors: strawberry and chocolate; she had already gotten herself a vanilla.

"Crap, I don't have enough…." she muttered.

"Nee-chan, what's wrong?" questioned a worried Wrath.

"Nothing's wrong, Wrath; we just won't be able to get both flavors is all."

"Yes you will- I'll pay for them."

She stood there, getting angrier and angrier by the second. How _dare_ he follow her! Didn't she say on the note that she did not want to be bothered unless it was an emergency?

"Um… Miss…? The ice cream…?"

"Oh- right! Sorry, got distracted-"

"I'll pay for it," said Greed again, pulling the correct amount of money out of his pocket.

"Nee-chan," hissed Wrath, pulling at her sleeve. "Who is this?"

"That's Greed," said Marta, glaring angrily at said person's back. "He can be a real jerk sometimes, but he's nicer than he looks." Wrath still glared at him openly, even as he walked back to them with the ice cream. Marta gave Wrath the spoon she had taken from the stand, and he tasted each flavor (but not before Greed did, as he also had a spoon).

Wrath decided that he would have strawberry, and Greed would take the chocolate. Marta was perfectly fine with her vanilla, but apparently they weren't satisfied with theirs. As soon as they were finished eating, they each took a spoonful of Marta's cone.

"I was still eating that, you know…" she said irritatedly.

"So?" - Wrath

"So stop stealing it- Hey!"

If Greed gets a second helping, then I want one, too!"

"Well, that's too bad, kid, 'cause I'm gonna eat all of it."

"Not if I eat it first!"

_drip, drip, slurp, drip- SPLAT._ There goes the ice cream.

Marta was still pissed, even an hour later on their way back to the Devil's Nest. But that didn't stop her from being nice to Wrath, because at that moment, she was giving him a piggy-back ride. The poor kid was passing out, so she had offered relief, despite Greed's jealous glares.

"He's not staying," he seethed, directing his furious gaze to Wrath.

"He has to, Greed- at least until we find his mother."

"What's this 'we' crap? I'm not helping him!"

"Well, _I_ am, so deal with it!" she hissed, letting out an irritated sigh. She sped up, trying to get away from the insanely jealous Greed.

An awkward silence followed, occasionally interrupted by the sounds of life in the city and the sound of Wrath breathing. Finally, they reached the alley leading the Devil's Nest.

"S-sorry…"

"What was that?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to snap at you."

"…"

"Look, just because I'm going to take care of Wrath doesn't mean I don't _love_ you anymore…"

It was then that Marta realized what she just said.

"Did you even love me in the first place?" Greed asked the blushing Marta teasingly.

"Shut up. I just got caught up in the moment."

"Oh, really?" he said, laughing. They continued down the alley to the entrance. Marta carefully walked down the stairs, Greed waiting impatiently at the bottom (she's still carrying Wrath). She gently set Wrath down on the couch, and sat down next to him. He didn't stay upright for long, however, and fell over, his head bumping Marta's shoulder. She sighed, and coaxed him into a more comfortable position, it being him lying down with his head on her lap.

_Lucky bastard…_ Greed thought jealously. _Dear God, I think I'm gonna turn into Envy… _

"What're you staring at, Greed?"

'…You'd make a good mother," he said off-handedly.

"W-what? Where did that come from?" she spluttered, trying to stay reasonably quiet.

"Seriously, Marta. You would. I mean, lookit the kid! He's already glued to you! And the note, too; you--!"

"That's right! The note!" she interrupted. "Why did you come find me? I specifically said not to bother me _unless_ it was an emergency!"

"But it _is_ an emergency."

"What is it, then?"

"I forgot to give you somethin.'"

"And that would be…?"

"This," he said, walking over to her from the other couch. He deftly placed a kiss just to the left of her lips. "It was meant to be a 'Good Morning' kiss, buuut…. yeah. Sorry it was a little late. Speaking of which, I've got to leave now; there's someplace I have to be at. See ya!"

Wrath woke up about half an hour later, much to Marta's displeasure; she had fallen asleep as well and had a nice dream, but then forgot what it was about (don'tcha _hate_ it when that happens?). She only remembered two things: a strange, dragon-like blur, and the word 'Mama.'

_What the hell does a dragon have to do with the word 'Mama'! Maybe I've absorbed some of Kimbley's insanity or something…._

"Nee-chan, I'm _bored_. What do you do for fun around here?"

"Well… you can read or write, or draw…"

"With what?" he said skeptically. Marta looked down at him and pinched his Nose. "Oww…!"

"That was awfully rude of you. Maybe I should've just left you at the park, hmm? Now get up, we hafta get something"

"I can't breathe…!"

"You'll live."

About half an hour later, they set off again, but not before Marta took some money from her secret stash.

"Does Greed know about it?" asked Wrath.

"It wouldn't be a secret if he knew about it, now would it? Besides, Greed would probably take it if he knew."

"Nee-chan, why do you put up with him? Why don't you leave?"

…

Well, that was unexpected.

"Well… I've got no where else to go, and it would hurt both of us if I left."

"Why? OW!" He rubbed the newly formed bruise on the back of his head.

"You're really nosey, Wrath."

About half an hour later, they made it to the local bookstore. And after looking through the many titles, Wrath found one he liked; it was called "The Children of Green Knowe." Which is a good book, by the way; I've read it at least twice. What? I'm getting off track? Oh, sorry. So anywhoo, after dragging him away from the bookstore with both his selection and a sketchpad (also for him), they headed back to the Devil's Nest.

They were greeted by a slightly deranged Kimbley upon arrival by way of "Tease-Marta-Until-Wrath-Kicked-His-Shins." That was rather _smart_ of you, wasn't it Kimbley? Oh, yes, let's tease the snake chimaera and have her psychotic "little brother" attack in defense of her! That's just _so_ much fun! In fact, let's _all_ taunt her until Wrath leaves us a bloody, massacred, corpsey heap at the back of the alley!

And by some chance the author doesn't go insane by the end of this chapter, we'll watch DISNEY MOVIES with LUST and SLOTH! YES! Oh, but wait…

…I've already lost my sanity…

…

…Sorry, Kimbley. No "Lady and the Tramp" for you.

So anywhoo, ignoring the temporary loss of sanity…

The book kept Wrath entertained for a while, which gave Marta time to construct a makeshift bed in the empty room. She stole one of the couch's pillows, and set up that and her fluffy blanket from Christmas at the side of the room, about a foot from the wall. But eventually, he grew bored of reading and picked up the sketchpad.

"Marta-nee-chan, what should I write?" he asked.

"Whatever you want; it's _your_ notebook."

"I need some _ideas_, though," he said, tapping the pencil thoughtfully. It was then that he was abruptly poked in the back of the neck, causing him to recoil and make a strange noise.

"My God, you're needy…" said Marta playfully, pulling back her hand. "Why don't you make it a journal or something? And in the first entry, you can talk about yourself, your family and friends, maybe a dream you'd like to accomplish?"

"Okay!" She looked over to him; he was already scribbling something into the notebook.

"Speaking of which… where's your mom? There's no way she'd let you out all by yourself."

"I r-ran away. Envy-nii-san said Mommy doesn't love me anymore…"

"What? That can't be true. All mothers love their children, no matter what they do."

"R-really?"

"Yes, Wrath. They do. Can you tell me your mom's name, or where she works? It'll be a lot easier to get you back to your house that way."

"Master calls her 'Sloth.' She works at a place called Central or something…" She looked at him inquisitively.

"Master…?"

"Yeah. Master found me and gave me a home, but… she's kind of a bitch…" he said rather bluntly.

"Ah, well. You can't really do anything about that, now can you? That's just life," she said, smiling cheerfully. Her smile grew wider when he yawned, making him look absolutely adorable. "Getting tired there, kid?"

"Noooo…" he protested, yawning mid-sentence.

"Hahaha… right, Wrath. Let's get you something to eat before you fall asleep."

After Wrath had eaten, he was sent to bed, and Marta started helping everyone get the bar ready as it was almost opening time. The night wore on steadily, being fairly uneventful (except for when the drunks that began hitting on her nearly got a vicious beating you-know-who).

Eventually, all the remaining drunkards were thrown out of the bar, and its residents prepared themselves for the remaining night's slumber. Marta went to bed after she made sure everyone else was alright. She closed the door to the bedroom as silently as she could, and slipped under the covers. The minute she had laid down, however, Greed rather forcefully pulled her to himself, whispering "What took you so _long_?"

"Get over it, Greed; I'm trying to sleep, here…"

A few hours passed, and everyone was sleeping peacefully. Well, at least until Wrath woke up. He crept to the bedroom noiselessly, opening the door and cringing at the small squeak the hinges released.

"Nee-chan?" he queried the darkness. "Nee-chan, I had a bad dream… can I stay with you?" Marta broke herself from Greed's vice-like arms, sitting up and then beckoning Wrath to come over. He flitted across the room to her.

"You don't want to stay in there anymore?" He shook his head vigorously. She sighed, lifting up the covers. "Fine… get over here quick before he wakes up." His eyes lit up with relief and he darted under the sheets. She lay back down softly, creating as little disturbance as possible. But she was again stolen by Avarice, who was still asleep somehow. Gekido stole her as well, creeping up to her silently and snuggling her arm. Aww, cute.

'**Ello, 'ello! 'Tis me, Kibou! M'kay, some notes about this chapter:**

**-Nee-chan means 'big sister' nii-san means 'big brother'**

**-Gekido means 'Wrath'**

**-I was listening to a Beatles CD while writing this and the album was called "Rubber Soul." I just realized the irony of that. (Think Marta.)**

**-Have you ever noticed that when you watched Disney movies when you were little, you didn't really listen, and then when you watch them again when you're older, you notice all these blatantly suggestive hints? In fact, I watched "Lady and the Tramp" with my little sister recently and was all like "Oh my God. The Tramp is Roy Mustang." And "OH MY GOD, HE DID _NOT_ JUST SAY THAT!" Hmm… Lady can be Riza, because royai is teh shit. **

**-Hey, I've got nearly 2000 hits for this story! That's frickin' awesome! Thank you all sooooo much! I lurve you all!**


	9. Kaachan

"Winter Slumber"

_I don't own Full Metal Alchemist. Arakawa-san does._

_I don't own "Almost." Sarah Harmer does._

_I don't own "Wont U Please B Nice." Nellie McKay does._

**Just reminding you all, buuut… I'm blatantly ignoring most laws of Full Metal Alchemist through the power of fanfiction, hence Wrath appearing in the last chapter. On with the story!**

Chapter 9: "Kaa-chan…!"

Wrath left with Sloth two days later, and his final words were these: "Greed, if you break her heart, I'll break your neck." Greed simply snickered and said "You won't have to worry about that, kid. If anything, it'd be the other way 'round." The minute they (Greed and Marta) were back in the Devil's Nest, Greed sat down on the couch, and Marta asked: "What the hell did you mean by that?"

"You'll find out in a few days," he said rather vaguely. Pushing that aside, Marta continued "Ya know, I'm really gonna miss Wrath… he was a good kid. Psychotic, yes, but good." She walked over to the couch where Greed was lounging on and turned to sit. He caught her mid-movement, and she fell into his lap.

"You really are evil, Greed," she said, allowing his arms to snake around her waist.

"I can give you that, you know," he said.

"Give me what?" she asked.

"You know what I mean," he said again, both hands gently tracing a path to her stomach and stopping there.

It was then that the blushing Marta knew _exactly_ what he meant. Still red, she turned to face him and placed both hands on the sides of his face.

"I can give you _that_ as well," she said quietly. "But you must first do something about that which looms over all our heads."

"…What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean," she said, looking directly into his violet eyes. In the reflection of Marta's emerald hues, he saw his own eyes, filled with the thoughts and fears of his subconscious.

And he knew exactly what she meant.

"Greed…?"

"Yeah?"

"Let go of me."

"Hmm… no. Sing, first." As if on cue, the radio on the bar counter flipped on. And out of cruel irony, it began to play "Almost."

_I almost_

_Dialed your number when I_

_Thought the coast was clear_

'_Cause it's looked up for so long at me_

_And said "Call me, please…"_

"I think I've heard this song before….."

"It's the one I sang in the shower, idiot…." Marta muttered.

_But the place was closing_

_The counter girl turned the sign_

_The cooks were getting their coats and I got mine_

_And said "Goodnight" to the sea of empty seats_

"You can join in anytime, Marta."

"…you really suck, Greed."

"Don't blame me- that radio's messed up."

"…fine."

_And if I am a sailor_

_Then you are the warm gulf wind_

_And you've blown into this little port and roused my dreams again_

_I see my mouth moving when I talk to you, I do_

_I see my lips and I feel like a kid_

_Who can't keep something hid_

'_Cause I've been under_

_The paper you were writing on_

_You left your impression long after you'd gone on me_

_Marks only I can see_

_And if I am a sailor_

_Then you are the warm gulf wind_

_And you've blown into this little port and roused my dreams again_

_When we say "Sometime later"_

_You know that we don't say when_

_You have blown into this little port and roused my dreams again_

_I almost_

_Dialed your number when I_

_Thought the coast was clear_

'_Cause it's looked up for so long at me_

_And said "Call me, please…"_

_And if I am a sailor_

_Then you are the warm gulf wind_

_And you've blown into this little port and roused my dreams again_

_When we say "Sometime later"_

_You know that we don't say when_

_You have blown into this little port and roused my dreams again_

_Sailor to wind…_

When the song was finished, the radio immediately began to play another one. Marta tried to stand up, expecting to be freed, but was held back, obviously.

"Come _on_, Greed! Lemme go!"

"But I don't want to…" he whined. She continued to struggle, until her arms snapped back and she flew forward, her lips finding Greed's.

_If you would sit_

_Oh-so-close to me_

_That would be nice_

_Like it's supposed to be_

_If you don't I'll slit your throat_

_So won't you please be nice?_

_If you would hug_

_Your arms right 'round me_

_That would be nice_

_Like it's supposed to be_

_If we part, I'll eat your heart_

_So won't you please be nice?_

Somehow, her mind didn't kick in right away, and she stayed in that position for a few seconds, feeling wonderful.

_Oh, don't you love this romancing?_

_Know that it's your life you're chancing…_

_La da-da…_

And then her mind activated, screaming bloody murder. She pulled away quickly- too quickly. She fell off Greed's lap and onto the floor.

_Isn't it nice? Now you've married me_

_Sugar and spice, ooh, like it's supposed to be_

_If you go, I'll get your dough_

_So won't you please be nice?_

"Marta, the denial thing's cute 'n all, but really- it's getting a bit annoying," said Greed with his usual bluntness. She gave him a strange look.

"Ya know what?" she said, getting up and sitting back on his lap. "Whoever invented denial can jump off a cliff." And with that, she kissed him right on the lips.

_Stop with your jazz oratory_

_I only listen to top forty-_

_NSYNC rules!_

She tried to pull back, but you know what Greed's like. That greedy bitch. She felt a strange, moist object against the cavern of her mouth, feeling its way around. _Oh, it's just his tongue._ Then she understood what that meant. As it passed over her teeth, she bit it, causing Greed to flinch. She took advantage of that and broke to kiss. She just meant to give him a chaste kiss, not ignites his insatiable passion.

"Ow… that hurt…"

"You deserved it. Good lord, I can't believe you tried to french me…" she retorted, standing up.

"Hey, you asked for it, babe," he said, flashing a flirtatious grin. She blushed slightly.

"N-no I didn't…" she stuttered, glancing away.

"Maybe not in words, but you gave me the feeling that that you wanted it." She stared at him.

How'd he find that out?

OO OO

"_Kaa-chan…"_

…

"_Kaa-chan…!"_

"_Kaa-chan, wake up!"_

"_DAMMIT, KAA-CHAN! DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP!"_

_A small girl's face slowly formed in front of her eyes. She was slightly tanned, with army green eyes and blond hair which eventually darkened to a dark, blood red. It was messily put into a low ponytail, with hairs sticking out at odd angles. She saw, as the girl talked, that she had such peculiar, sharp teeth, like a shark's._

"_Papa says he needs your help with something… I SAID DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP-"_

It was then that Marta awoke, feeling strangely cold. While searching for the nonexistent warmth, she remembered the dream perfectly, although there wasn't much to remember as it was quite short. Like Ed Elric. Ha, ha ha….

Ha ha ha…

Yeah, he's gonna murder me.

So anywhoo, Marta was slowly deciphering her dream, taking note that the child looked like her and Greed combined.

Wait… her and Greed… _combined?_

Wouldn't that mean that they…?

Blushing furiously, she thought _But_ _wait! Homunculi can't have kids, can they…? It hasn't been proven to be false or anything, but…_ She pondered that for a minute or two, until she finally thought _They could probably have children if they really wanted to. _

Putting that aside, she got dressed and left the bedroom. After looking for about ten minutes, she deduced that Greed was currently gone.

"Yo, Dorochet! Where'd Greed go?"

"I dunno."

"What!"

"I _said_ 'I dunno.' He probably left sometime last night, 'cause he wasn't here this morning."

"…I'm going to kill him…"


	10. And then

"Winter Slumber"

_Full Metal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu-san._

"_The Seeker" was originally made by Dolly Parton, but the lyrics used are from the remake by Shelby Lynne._

Chapter 10: And then…

"I am a seeker; a poor, sinful creature- there is no weaker than I am…" Marta sang.

She was currently in the hay wagon with the rest of the Devil's Nest crew, which was being drawn by Roa. By request, she sang songs to pass the time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It's been about a week since Greed left, leaving his followers to fend for themselves, and about two days since he sent a message back to the Devil's Nest, i.e. Wrath running-like-hell headfirst into Marta and hugging her to death. But he managed to get his message across- they were to come to the estate that, until as of late, belonged to Dante. They were also told to bring all their belongings.

So now, here sat Marta and others, rolling down the forest path, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"Kimbley, stop trying to explode Biddo!"

Well, almost.

Ignoring them, she continued to sing.

"I am a seeker, and you are a teacher. You are a reacher, so reach down… Oh, won't you reach down and lead me, guide me and keep me in the shelter of your care each day…"

_**I am a Seeker**_

_**And you are a Keeper**_

_**You are the leader**_

_**Won't you show me the way?**_

_**Oh, I am a vessel that's empty and useless**_

_**I am a ship, felled, by the way, sinking**_

_**I am a loser that wants to be a winner**_

_**And you are my last hope that I pray**_

"Hey, that sounds like Greed and us chimaeras!" said Biddo happily, carefully moving his tail out of Kimbley's range.

_**Oh, won't you reach down and lead me**_

_**Guide me and keep me**_

_**In the shelter of your care each day**_

_**I am a seeker**_

_**And you are a keeper**_

_**You are the leader**_

_**Won't you show me the way?**_

"Oh, I am a seeker; a poor, sinful creature- there is no weaker than I am…" Eliza and another girl joined in with choruses of "I'm a creature…" Smiling, she continued on.

"I am a seeker, and you are a teacher. You are a reacher, so reach down-"

"Reachin' up for you!'

"Oh, won't you reach down and lead me, guide me and keep me in the shelter of your care each day… I am a seeker, and you are a keeper. You are the leader, won't you show me the way?"

_**Oh, I am a vessel that's empty and useless**_

_**I am a ship, felled, by the way, sinking**_

_**I am a loser that wants to be a winner**_

_**And you are my hope that I pray**_

_**Oh, won't you reach down and lead me**_

_**Guide me and keep me**_

_**In the shelter of your care each day**_

_**I am a seeker, and you are a keeper**_

_**You are the leader**_

_**Won't you show me the way?**_

_**Oh, you are the leader**_

_**Won't you show me the way?**_

Just as soon as she finished her song, the mansion appeared within view. And there was Greed, grinning like the idiot he was, motioning for them to "get the hell over there." Roa stopped the wagon, and they all leaped out and ran to him. Marta was pretty sure she heard someone yell "GREED, YOU FREAK!"

They gathered around him, but still gave him about two feet of room.

"You see all this?" he began, spreading his arms wide for emphasis. "IT'S ALL OURS!" There were several loud cheers, until he yelled "NOW GO KILL EACH OTHER FOR YOUR ROOMS LIKE THE CRAZED ANIMALS YOU ARE!"

Then they all (par Greed and Marta) sprinted exactly the way he described it; like animals.

"…And Biddo's in the lead- now it's Dorochet…" laughed Greed, watching the frenzied display with amusement.

"We should probably pick our rooms before all the good ones get taken," said Marta, laughing with him. They began to walk to the mansion, enjoying the lovely chaos that was forming.

"So, how'd ya do it?" asked Marta as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"Do what?"

"Defeat Dante."

"Oh, that. I got some help from this short kid and his brother. He had something against her. But then again, who doesn't?" She chuckled. "Speaking of which… I got something for ya." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, silvery object. He tossed it to Marta and walked off, immediately picking out the best bedroom and shoving whoever got it out. Ignoring the strangled protests of the newly ejected ex-occupant, Marta began to examine what Greed threw at her.

It was a small metal band in the shape of the serpent of the ouroburos (it lacked the wings and hexagram, however). It looked like it would seemingly wrap around her finger, tail in its mouth, if she put it on.

Wait.

Hold on a minute.

"Hey, what day is it?" she called out, hoping someone had heard her over the anarchy.

"It's February fourtee- BACK OFF, I CALLED THIS ROOM!"

…..

_I KNEW he would plan something, that bitch! _Marta thought angrily.

OO OO

Greed sat on the bed of his new room, waiting patiently for his precious Marta to come storming through the door. He did hope that she liked her present. _You should've seen the look on that kid's face when I told him to make it, Marta. It was priceless. _He snickered, remembering the shock that suddenly flooded the boy's features.

_Thump_

_Thump_

_Thump- BAM!_

"GREED!"

Ah, there she was.

"Yes?" he calmly replied. "Did you want something?"

"Here's your answer!" Greed watched as she slid the ring onto her finger, then ran forward and tackled him onto the bed.

And then…

Well…

You don't want to know.

"Hey, Greed, where's the- OH MY GOD, CLOSE THE DOOR! THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE IN THE HALLWAY!"

Yeah. You really don't.

THE END!

Waagh! I thought the ending was craptastic, but it's the only thing I could think of that would end this fic nicely. Gah…

For those of you waiting for the last chapter in order to review…

DO IT NOW! REVIEWS ARE MY LIFEBLOOD!

…

Yeah. Go me.

Also- the kiriban will be posted as soon as I find a useable scanner.

3000 hits! Hellz yeah!

Thank you all sooo much!


	11. KIRIBAN!

**A BONUS CHAPTER/DRABBLE/WHATEVAH.**

**(And for those of you doubting a homunculus' ability to have children…**

**THERE'S A WONDERFUL NEW INVENTION OUT. I BELIEVE IT'S CALLED A 'CONDOM.')**

Marta looked up at the strangely grinning Greed, who watching the daily chaos of their home with her. He had his arm around her shoulder, her head leaning softly against his neck.

"And so, to make me happy, you defied the laws of nature," she said rather bluntly. They failed to notice the suspicious-looking clouds that were rolling in.

"Oh, hell yeah," he said casually. "Hey, watch this!" He got up abruptly, walking a good twenty-or so feet away from the bench.

"SCREW YOU, NATURE!"

Greed was abruptly struck by lightning.

**Hey. **

**I'm in the process of writing more GreedXMarta, if anyone would read them. There are a few chapters I'd like to post, but I can't quite yet.**

**Here are their titles and descriptions as follows:**

"**What's yours is Mine"**

**AU, Slight crossover with XxxHolic.**

**The Marta of this world unknowingly purchases a homunculus, a rare, parasitic semi-human. Watch how it plans to steal her soul in order to have one of its own.**

"**Porcelain Doll"**

**A 'What-if' story. Probably under the category of AU.**

**After being abandoned by Greed, Marta flees the Devil's Nest and Dublith, into the forest leading to Dante's mansion. She becomes a sin's 'doll,' without a trace of memory or heart left.**

**M'kay, those are the ones that are definitely coming up. I've got another one which I kinda want to do, but it's probably not going to appear for a while.**

**So anywhoo…**

**Thanks for reading this and reviewing. It means a lot to me.**

**And as for the kiriban…**

**There's a link in my profile that leads to the kiriban. Go there.**


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